Critical: David Cameron hit back at Labour’s plans to restore the 50p income tax rate (Picture: Reuters)

A Labour government would drive the economy ‘into a wall’, David Cameron has claimed.

He spoke after shadow chancellor Ed Balls promised to restore the 50p income tax rate on people earning more than £150,000 a year.

That move prompted 24 business leaders to write to a national newspaper condemning the plan.

Mr Cameron told the BBC Radio 4: ‘I saw what Ed Balls said yesterday, which as far as I could see was that, if he had his time over again, he would probably spend even more.

‘I think these people seem to have learnt absolutely nothing from what went wrong with our economy, that the problems were based on too much borrowing, too much spending, too much debt.

‘They are really saying if you gave us the keys to the car, we would drive it exactly the same way into exactly the same wall.’

Defending the policy, Labour leader Ed Miliband said: ‘It is utterly fair and utterly reasonable when ordinary families are seeing an unprecedented squeeze on their living standards to reverse the tax cut that this government gave to those earning over £150,000.

‘It will help get the deficit down and reflects the principle of the British people – that those who have the broadest shoulders should bear the greatest burden.’

The Institute for Fiscal studies think-tank said there was ‘little additional evidence’ to back Labour claims that the 50p rate raised £10billion more than expected before being axed.